


Hanakotoba

by Amehika



Category: Devil May Cry
Genre: Also a poor attempt at writing fluff and comedy, Dante has no understanding about the internet or technology, Incest, Language of Flowers, M/M, Post DMC5, Twincest, some swearing and cursings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-20
Updated: 2019-05-27
Packaged: 2020-03-08 09:51:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 17,084
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18892216
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Amehika/pseuds/Amehika
Summary: There are five bouquets all sent to Dante, each with a similar message.Dante swears they're sent to the wrong person.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> ....this is a loose basing from a prompt I found on Tumblr a while back that had to do with flowers and some vehement denial from the sender. When I say loose, it's... not going in accordance to this prompt. Oh well, I still wanted to do something with flowers and their meanings. So here you go. Enjoy this unbetaed story- hope I didn't mess it up too much.
> 
> Post DMC5. Let's just say their adjustment was smooth. It's a comedy act of sorts ~~its not~~

"Lady?" Dante blinks. He's silently swearing he's seeing things. "Is this a wrong delivery?"

Said woman approaches Dante who is still looking at his desk in confusion. "Is something wrong?"

"Well-" The mercenary gestures wildly towards his desk and Lady finally sees it. "It's not like **these** come in everyday to this office, would it?"

It's a bouquet of flowers, neatly and prettily arranged, laid out on Dante's desk. And there's a card neatly tied with the large white bow attached to it, but based on Dante's reaction, it hasn't been read.

"Huh. That is weird." Lady's hands are on her hips, also staring at the bouquet in confusion. "Do you know anyone that can send flowers?"

Dante shakes his head vehemently.

"Hm." Lady frowns, hand on her chin as they inspect the bouquet. She can recognize them- canary yellow daffodils, purple lilacs, ivory honeysuckles, and purple hyacinths. A rather odd assortment, but the colors compliment well. "Do you know what these flowers are?"

Said man pauses, stares at it, then shakes his head. "The only types of flowers I know are roses, violets, and carnations. This? No. I mean, it's pretty. Arranged nicely, too."

"...so you don't know the difference between lilacs and hyacinths." The gun-wielder stares at him. "Wow. Says the one who's supposed to charm the ladies when you were younger."

Dante rolls his eyes. "Funny. But here's my real question: is this bouquet **supposed** to be here?"

"I'm not sure, but maybe if you can read the card?" She gestures towards the white card that's poking out. "Who knows? Maybe it's for us. It's probably a thank you gesture or something."

"For what? The only payment we get for jobs are by cash or check." Credit is iffy on everyone's end- and there's a chance of them being gypped if the credit card gets declined. That and Dante knows too well gifts of appreciation come... very rarely to this sort of business. Morrison has told him this once and Dante suspects its to prevent any form of tracing. "So who do you know gets paid in flowers?"

"Nobody." Lady decides to pluck the card since Dante wasn't going to. In fact, if anything, said man might bend the card in case this was indeed sent here by accident. "All right, let's see if there's a way we can try to open this without destroying the envelope-"

"We're going to anyway." Dante deadpans and earns a smack from Lady. "...really? Can't you hit any harder?"

"Oh, do you want to see how much you owe me for 'borrowing' Kalina Ann?" Lady's smirk comes back a bit vicious and Dante pales a bit. She returns to carefully opening the envelope and retrieving the card- and she blinks. She rereads it then she hands it- envelope and all- to Dante. "...it's for you."

"For- wait, for me?" Dante blinks, staring at the outstretched card, and he takes it. The paper feels nice. So when he gets the thick card out, he reads: _' **To new starts and reformed beginnings, to you.'**_   He blinks, staring at the card again before flipping it to the back- and the words: **_To Dante_** are written in a neat penciled handwriting. "...uh."

"You know what, I like this set." Lady stares at the bouquet with a grin. "It'll make the place more refined."

"...yeah, but does it fit?" Dante warily stares at the card again, initial confusion in his head. He stares back at the flowers and at the envelope. "Hold on, do you think that- it could've been for someone else in here?" He's trying to pretend the flowers weren't for him- he doesn't deserve something very beautiful for destroying demons.

"Nope!" There's some sort of cluttering noises down the hall. "And I'm pretty sure I don't get any flowers unless it was for a special thing-" Dante keeps a mental note that he's going to give Lady and Trish some flowers one of these days to show his absolute appreciation and for putting up with him. "-so I guess you're a lucky guy?"

"For getting **flowers!?** "

There's no response, Lady's now in the kitchen to clean and wash... whatever she got from the hall closet.

"Whatever, just... hm. I'm going to..." He's honestly surprised by this gesture. The card that conveys it? Even more so.

He clicks his tongue, turning back to look at the bouquet- and gently lifts it up to inspect it. The flowers look like they were plucked right when it blossomed, and he faintly can smell the sweet honeysuckles. Though when he looks closer, the purple flowers do look different; and the daffodils are lovely.

"I wonder who sent them here?" He quietly asks, hearing a dull thunk on his desk. Lady has cleaned out a crystal red vase that he hasn't used in... forever. What did he buy the vase for again?

"I don't know. I'm sure you don't even know the nearest florist." Lady smiles, seeing Dante carefully take out the protective paper from the bouquet. "And here you thought it was sent to the wrong address."

"Yeah, but I'm not expecting anything to come out of this." He carefully recreates the bouquet's design in the vase- and it still looks good. "I appreciate the sentiment."

* * *

 

It's later when Trish and Vergil both return from their job the next day that they notice the bouquet- and Lady just decides to tell the two who it was given to. Lady wasn't cruel to leave him mulling in the office alone, so they both binge-watched a series of superhero movies, something Dante was more than delighted to watch after months of being in the Underworld. Dante's face was lightly flushed, but he shrugs off the notion that it was supposed to be sent to him. 

"It might be a one time thing." Dante tells them, still looking at the bouquet. He hid the card behind the vase, obscured from their view.

"The flowers do look pretty." Trish hums, getting closer to it before taking a sniff of the honeysuckles. "I'm even surprised you didn't throw them out at first glance."

"Hey!" Dante was about to protest to this, but Vergil smirks, daring him to challenge that. "...argh, forget it. The flowers are pretty."

"At least it adds a refined addition to this decor." His brother adds and Dante shakes his head.

"I"m still not changing a thing to this place-" Though he gets to hear the fine tuned complaints from all three of them and that makes everything back to normal- whatever that was.

* * *

The second one came when Nero came to visit- they were passing by from a job and this place was on en route to Fortuna City. Nico was too busy sleeping in the trailer from a good day's worth of driving, so that was the reason why she didn't show. Kyrie was still back in Fortuna City, but she sent her greetings to Dante via phone call.

"So we just came in and someone was delivering something, saying it's for you. I just picked it up since you're here and-" Nero begins and he sees Dante attempting to play with- "-is that a smartphone?"

"It's Morrison's idea." Dante sets it down with annoyance written on his face. While he knows people still use landlines, the cellphone requires a learning curve. A more dedicated one- and Dante has some time to kill. That is, and he knows the contractor is due to arrive sometime this week with another job for him. "I'm- still learning."

"Oh man. Have fun." Nero's seen those around- and has been debating about ditching the trailer phone in favor for cellphones. The only reason why he doesn't is because there's this thing called charging a cellphone and Nero isn't about to buy more things just for one device.

"So, kid. Are you here to visit your old man?" Nero scoffs and Dante hums, sensing the prickled energy Nero gives off. He chuckles, eyes crinkling with sympathy at how annoyed Nero is. "Well, on one plus side, you are making an effort to visit family?"

"Shut up, it's not like you managed to give any of us a welcome call when you came back." Ouch. That smarts, but Nero brought up a good point. He and Vergil just crash landed somewhere in... wherever in the world they landed, but they didn't exactly tell Nero or the others they came back. "But I came to talk about a few things with you."

"Job related or family related?" One of them is more awkward than the other and Dante knows it wasn't about the job. Plus, he's not sure if Vergil is on talking terms with Nero; its more like tense dissonance and already Dante wants out for any attempts to mediate any conversations between father and son. The one minus of being related to both is that they will pinpoint glares at him when Dante wants to retreat, forcing him to stay for... god knows what reason.

...honestly, Dante would take a wild shot in the dark and wonder if its because he's the best medicator between both of them- Trish and Lady would have been more delighted to see them attempt to kill each other. Nico will just be calling the shots- and Kyrie will be taking most of Nero's side.

Or it might be as simple as Nero feels more comfortable with his uncle's warmth and Vergil just being the least prickly around Dante. Whatever, he really has no clue.

"Job related." Nero rolls his eyes, but then he points the bouquet at Dante's direction- and he stills. "Flowers for you, stupid."

"A..." Dante trails off, staring at the bouquet of flowers with another card poking out at the same place. Instead of a snarky banter, Dante gingerly takes it away from Nero's hands. Confusion is on his face again, staring at the different assortment before him. Was it- same bow, same paper, same type of card- from the same person? "...another set of flowers?"

"What?" Nero blinks before he notices the other, older set of purple and yellow flowers, sitting on a red vase. "Oh. That's interesting. Well, anyway, someone wanted to drop those off for you, so I'm here, delivering it for your lazy ass."

More flowers? Again?? _What in the actual hell?_ "Thanks..."

And now Nero stares at Dante as if a second head suddenly grew on his head and started to talk. "Are you okay?" He's never seen the Legendary Mercenary look at something and not remark on it.

"Uh huh." Dante's too busy staring at the assortment this time- it's red, purple, and tiny flecks of white. He's not sure what types they are, but he can look these up, right? Maybe if he can call Lady, she might know. Trish doesn't, she's admitted this much. And Vergil? No way; poetry is his thing. If anything, he would say giving flowers are not within his realm of expertise. "Say, Nero, do you know anything about flowers?"

"Pssh, not really." The younger man shakes his head. "The only ones I know are what's presented back at the altar when I was a kid. Though I don't want to give Kyrie any carnations. That ended badly."

Dante fights to laugh at the thought of Kyrie throwing away a bouquet of carnations. "Oh come on, I don't think she'll do that!"

"Not if the flowers mean something." Nero groans, hanging his head. "I still remember that. Dumb and shy at thirteen too. Credo thought it would be a good idea to give Kyrie some flowers and we both know her favorite colors. So we stole some from the church altar when the floral arrangements were made."

"You, a wannabe thief trying to win a woman's heart at thirteen? That's really sweet of you! How did that go?" Dante asks, already amused. "Did she accept it with a gracing smile?"

Nero huffs, nodding. There's a slight blush on his face, but he smiles at the memories. "Yeah, but then I found the carnations in the trash! I was so upset, but I didn't talk to her about it. I didn't think Kyrie will like me back then."

"Yeah, well, look at you both now." He feels for thirteen year old Nero: young, nervous, so much in love. If only a certain someone felt the damn same. Dante still does. Just doesn't want to say it yet. If he has a choice, he'll keep the secret locked in, even on the way to his grave. "You're both happily in love."

That gets the kid smiling- albeit with a chuckle. "Yeah... She's too good for someone like me. I think she wanted roses then instead of carnations."

Ah, the universal flower that shows one thing. "Roses? Ah, the flower of love, every woman's dream."

"And everyone's cliched bouquet." Nero's smile grows wider. "Have you given any?"

Dante pauses, leaning back on his hair. "Maybe- to the two babes in my life." Nero's laugh is justified there; Dante is amazed that Lady and Trish haven't badgered him about it. In fact, Nero thinks they deserve more than flowers, but he doesn't voice that thought out. "And soon, to Kyrie, if you're okay with me giving flowers to her."

"What? I mean, I'll be okay with it... as long as the roses aren't **red**." That, he knows, is for Nero's intimate to Kyrie.

"So white's out of the picture too?" Dante laughs, earning Nero's flip of the finger, red in the face from absolute embarrassment. "Relax, I'm kidding! But really, white roses work for her. And put in twelve red ones. Those mean a lot to people."

Nero quietly snorts, the smile returning to his face. Ah, there's the nephew he gets along with. "How the hell do you know so much about roses? You don't look the type to garden."

"I'm not a green thumb. But I've given a fair share of them. Or two." Or on the silent trip to her grave and he gives her a good assortment of the best looking roses his mother deserves. He's been needing to start on that soon- on the day that nobody is around and Dante has a day to himself.

"To some lucky woman?" Nero quips, "Trish told me about your luck with women."

"Oh man... Don't get me started on how many times I get drinks dumped on my face."

"What!?" Now this conversation gets into a very interesting turn- "Was water one of them?"

"Yeah, though I actually liked that. Beer... no, just no. The worst was one of those mixed sugary drinks. I think that chick really wanted to do something with me and I just flat out refused."

"Man." Nero threatens not to chuckle at Dante's expense. "That luck must have run the opposite for you with demon killing. How about gambling and cards?"

"Please don't get me started on **that.** " They both laugh over this- Dante has given Nero a big hint as to how absolute shit he is at strip poker and swears he won't tell anyone else. The only other one who knows was Enzo and thankfully said man moved to Vigrid, so events of that night are gone.

But- back to point, with these flowers- this gets Dante's thought running: _These other flowers have meanings?_ "So, that means you'll have no clue about what these things are in here, would you?"

"No- wait." Nero blinks, seeing the bouquet Dante presents to him. His eyes carefully scan through the flowers before he pokes at the bundles of white flowers. "I think I know one- that's Queen Anne's Lace."

"A- wait, what?" How did Nero know this?

"It's a series of white tiny flowers that smells like carrots. I remember because someone made us eat some in a pudding-" Nero's face scrunches, "Along with other edible flowers."

Dante shoves down stifling laughter- Nero ate flowers as a kid? "I just want to ask-"

"They tasted awful! It tastes like potent perfume-" Nero makes gagging noises and Dante starts to laugh. "I'm serious! You try eating a rose on its own!"

"As tempting as that is, no thanks. They are pretty to look at. Smell nice too." And they remind him a lot about his mother's floral garden. But he doesn't tell this, but it's one of the nicer moments from the past. "But is that it? That's all you know?"

"Yeah- well, now that I'm seeing this-" Nero flicks his finger to the purple lilac, "This looks the same as that red-pink flower."

"Lilacs?" Lady has given him a list of the flowers and even told him which was what. "What about the last one?"

"How should I know?" Nero stares at him- before an idea perks at him. "Hey, give me your phone- do you have internet?"

"...what?" Dante asks and Nero blinks. "Internet?"

"You know... the thing to look up pictures at when you don't know what it looks like?" The young man stares at Dante. "The World Wide Web? ...going mobile??"

"Kid, you lost me when you said that 'World Wide Web' thing."

Nero lets out a long-suffering groan, hands on his face. "Oh my Savior. Nico knows, Kyrie has an idea, I'm still learning about it. Even the kids know and I can pass up to be their **guardian**. But are you serious!?"

Dante has the most clueless look he has in years and Nero's urge to punch Dante out of sheer irritation returns. This time, just out of the fact that Dante has been living under a rock when it came to that for the past... decade or so. (As to how he got to watching movies on the television, Dante had Lady navigate through the program.) "Nero, you're talking to someone who has held onto this lovely little thing-" The rotary phone, Nero knows, "-for ages. And it's the only way I get calls for jobs."

"And this is why you can't get any more thanks to whatever the hell possessed you to not adapt, you old fart." Nero deadpans, not even phased at Dante's annoyed glare at the 'old fart' pass. "All right, let me look it up for you... wait, what's the passcode to the phone?"

"Er, eleven-twenty-three." He had to set it up so that nobody else can get in, but he'll have to change it now that he's told Nero. But Nero's quiet enough to keep it a silent thing and... well, Dante really needs some help readjusting to something else other than whats happened in the last six months. But while the kid's distracted, he spies the white card and takes it. He gently opens it before quietly reading the card: ** _'For you are my haven, passion. My eternal.'_**

And again, the penciled handwriting reading: **_To Dante_**

"So it's a heliotrope." He blinks, looking up from the card to see Nero present the image. It was, indeed, a smaller bundle of purple flowers and the word heliotrope on whatever was on the phone. "Nice looking flower though. I wonder why someone would give this you?"

"I'm... not sure- hey, kid? You said flowers have meanings." Dante is curious now. "What do these flowers mean?"

"The languages of- hold up, I'm not a flower whisperer, jackass!"

"Well, you did eat a flower-" And Dante laughs, hearing Nero's swears reach his ears before hearing him seethe that he's now grating on his nerves. "Hey- truce? You fight me a little and I won't tell anyone this little embarrassing thing about yourself?"

"Fine." Nero grumbles, but the promise of sparring Dante overwhelms him and he grins. "Can't wait for something useful to come out of this trip for once."

"Wait, I thought you wanted to talk about something job related?"

Nero reluctantly nods and Dante slowly suspects it... has to do with Nico. And finances. "Can you help me look over those finances and see if I can use some for repairing the van?"

Repair? The- oh geez. Any thoughts of training Nero screeches into a halt. "What did you guys do on your last job that made it like this?"

Nero scowls. Ah, right, so what happened now? An argument with the mechanic? With Kyrie?? "Let me wake up Nico and let her explain about how she nearly ran over a demon and nearly roasted its guts all over the front-"

"Wait, what?"

* * *

It was way past three in the afternoon and Nero looks rather relieved when Dante relayed his 'job experience from hell' advice (aka finding out how Trish managed the money all of these years she's long-suffered with him) on how to make sure their money situation works between partners... and emergency car repairs that came from running over a horde of demons.

That was a delightful sight to look at. It makes the bouquet of flowers look really nice now.

...it's horrible for him to say this, but the demons' corpses in the Underworld look ten times better than whatever fried off on the trailer's engines and stayed there. According to Nico, this was while she and Nero were arguing over an arm he's destroyed, so by that logic, she wasn't paying attention and ran over some demon whelps that were about to attack a group of people.

In short, she blames Nero.

Nero thinks otherwise.

Dante opts to steer clear from this and remains on the neutral side.

That and from the way Nero is attempting to squirrel away a good amount of money for what he called 'important occasion', Dante has a suspicion he wants to do something momentous for Kyrie. And Nico's caught on, but she's promising to keep mum. That didn't stop her from snickering and poking at Nero about it.

So while the two of them are running for buying supplies- they are staying for about a few days here in the city, Dante was too busy figuring out his new phone again when Vergil returns.

"Hey." Dante doesn't have to look up to sense his older twin arriving, footsteps approaching his desk. "Your son stopped by. Their van's busted, so he's going to stick around for the next few days."

Vergil stiffens. "...how quaint." Then he glances to the other bouquet- it's not disturbed, still in place, but Dante has safely hidden the card that came with it. No need for people to know what the hell these cards read. He softly scoffs, still looking at the first bouquet that still stands from a few days ago. "I'm surprised you kept it."

"Yeah, well," Dante lifts his legs from the desk as he pushes his chair back. He'll ask Nero and Nico to show him how the hell to properly call someone on this thin black contraption. "They're really pretty. I don't want them to go dying on my anytime soon, you know? Lady's right. It does make this place look better."

Vergil hums in agreement, eyes still on the second bouquet of flowers. "What about this one?"

"I think the kid's picking up a vase for me." Dante decides it's a good idea to place this one in the living room- the color fits really well. He gently picks up the bouquet, inspecting one of the magenta lilacs.  Despite the multiple flowers, they look... really pretty. Color is very nice too. "Say, Verge, did you know flowers have meanings?"

His older brother arches an eyebrow, a thin smirk appearing. "Why no, I don't know about these things." As usual, Vergil's being the deprecating one. Dante is a bit too used to it at this point, so he says nothing. If this was different, then it certain catches Vergil's attention. "Is something bothering you, Dante?"

"Eh..." Nero's words are still in his mind: Not if the flowers mean something. Do these bouquets tell him anything? "Just- wondering. That's all." His mind trails back to the cards, still in thought as he stares at the bouquet that's sitting at his desk. "...I want to know who's sending them to me."

"Oh?" And Vergil's lips tilt to a strange sort of mirthful smirk. "And you're suddenly bothered by this?"

"...no?" Not yet, at least. "I mean, I'm used to giving things to others. I don't get anything in turn."

"I can tell." From the months being here, it's either payment for jobs or drinks and booze from welcoming visitors. Flowers? Not so much.

Dante leans back, still staring at the bouquets, quietly murmuring, "What did I do to deserve these?"

There's a good minute of silence- he knows Vergil is staring at him. But he doesn't say anything. Then the swordsman shakes his head. "Good things come to those who wait, Dante. However, I think it will take more for you to truly understand."

"About what!?"

But Vergil doesn't respond, still wearing that mysterious smile, going up to his room as Dante blinks, confused.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All of you are a delight! XD Here's chapter two!  
> (If all of you are sharp, you already know who is giving these to Dante and yes, that man deserves some flowers.)

The third one-

-well...

...to put it plainly, it came after this night.

"If anyone asks," Dante's seething, mortified and embarrassed. Trish next to him, and Morrison follows them, waves of amusement coming off from both of them as Dante storms the doors open, "You both **didn't** see me get punked by groups of brats."

"Right." Trish stifles a snicker. He glares at her.

"I have to agree, their maturity level do come into question..." But Morrison's cackle doesn't smush Dante's irritation at all. Since when did Morrison agree for Dante to suffer for the night!? The job went through just fine, though, thanks for asking. He and Trish took down the hordes of demons with little to no issue.

"That and-" Trish is trying not to laugh at his expense. "-I'm amazed at how cool you played it off after-"

"If anyone asks, it never happened!" Dante feels the tips of his ears heat up- he still feels mortified about it.

"Whoa, wait, sorry, but what happened?" A new voice chirps and Dante suddenly realizes he's not alone. He slowly turns to see Lady, Nero, and Nico standing there.

Trish and Morrison both start laughing, earning Dante's glare of disdain.

"Don't ask." The mercenary growls, not even bothering to ask for Vergil's whereabouts. He's not there where other people are- his older brother isn't the social type. There's a high chance he's in his room, but Dante makes no urge to seek him out. He's ticked off to make any rational decisions.  
Dante makes his way to the kitchen to get a drink, preferably whiskey. It's rare that he doesn't want to celebrate a good job done and this was one of them. Ignoring whatever the others have to say nor paying attention to whoever followed him, Dante manages to find the nearest glass- of course, it's a shot glass, but it'll do- and finds a half-empty whiskey bottle because he's fucking embarrassed and pissed.

"There **are** better ways to exude your anger." And he sees another gloved hand gently pry the bottle- Vergil. And then he plucks the shot glass away, eyes glancing at his younger brother. "And if I recall, drinking doesn't help with your fluctuating anger. It will makes some things worse."

"I know, but it helps me forget." How does Vergil know about his drinking thing? Never mind, he'll find out later. Dante glances to see Vergil place them back before he huffs, crossing his arms. "All right then, give me a better way to vent out how I humiliated myself in front of kids that are half of Nero's age."

"You-?" Vergil snidely smirks, his silent tremors change into laughter and it just makes Dante even more pissed. Great, what a way to end what should have been a great day from killing demons. Screw you indeed. He can feel his face heat up in justified anger, mentally racking up a better way to just vent out his irritation.

"Right! That was **very** helpful, Verge! I should've gotten my shot while I had the chance." He turns into leave the kitchen, but he feels a hand on his wrist, causing him to glare at Vergil. If looks can kill, he could just stab Vergil with his fire element right now. "What."

"I was about to offer something akin to to sparring." Vergil's laughter is reduced to comforting chuckles. And Dante's glare does nil to Vergil- but the thought of taking out his brother in a duel interests him. "It has been a few days since we last did anything productive."

"If it's you, then yeah. But you know what?" Dante's glare changes into his trademark sly smirk, eyes narrowing. Oh, was he going to **enjoy** this. It's been about, what? Three weeks since they last sparred? (Dante was keeping count... he thinks). That and **now** he needs a way to burn off his anger. "I think I'm more prepared than you- I just fought a bunch of tough looking mooks, so I already got a warm-up."

"Good." Vergil narrows his eyes, chipping with a daunting pride as he takes out Yamato- and slashes the air to reveal night skies and what look to be a series of trees surrounding a large patch of grass. Dante rolls his eyes, but his smirk widens. Ah, the night breeze does feel good against his face. "It's not too far from here."

"All right-" But Vergil's hand on his shoulder stops him.

"One other thing. Due to the fact this is out on the open, you can utilize your abilities to the highest extent." When Dante tries to ask why, Vergil simply responds, "To be away from those who improperly mark us as demons."

Ahhh... so that's why Vergil wants to spar? He's been itching to see if Dante retained utilizing his inner demonic strength?? No catches or anything?

There has got to be something else to this, but sure, why not, he'll take advantage of beating Vergil's ass down!

Said man cracks a smug, daring grin. "Ha! Even better."

The more private, the better- at least he has the advantage to beating Vergil, right?

* * *

 ...or so he thought after landing on the ground for the nth time.

Dante tries not to let out a loud curse, but he realizes he's in his Sin Trigger form. His sword is somewhere, but it's returned back to him- he's done fighting for this round. Dante resists the urge to flip Vergil off just for kicking his ass. So when it dissipates and he's back in his own body, he can't help but groan out a rather irritated, "Fuuuuuck!"

Vergil's laughing- somewhere and he has a feeling that asshole is still in the air, in his own Sin Trigger form. And he hears Dante scream that happy expletive out. "Language, Dante."

Fuck it. Dante's response is to flip his brother off with both hands*. Too tired to even think about... how many times has Vergil beat him now?

" **Five** times, Dante. I'm starting to think you're getting lax in your techniques." And he groans, not even bothering with opening his eyes as he hears Vergil lands on the ground, also resuming back to his own human form and approach him. It was a calm, quiet night and Vergil has kicked his ass for that many times. Well, Dante has bested him a couple times before Vergil retaliated- this one being their... their...

"Ha ha ha. Funny, I was able to beat you the last time we've sparred."

"That was last time. This is now."

"Now? ...we've been at it for how many rounds now?" Dante asks, still not bothering to open his eyes. He knows while his body is recovering, his energy isn't recovering as fast. Probably because his own body is screaming at him to 'GET THE FUCK TO SLEEP YOU DUMBASS'. Or was that the inner Nero in him saying that?

"Nine." He can hear Vergil's subtle pride of victory and Dante now doesn't want to know if Vergil is smiling at the thought of kicking Dante's ass. "Considering how much you've defeated me from last time's session, I'd say we're even."

"Ha! Even. Right. I'm still up you by one."

There's another scoff. "If you bother counting right- Are you still thinking about that?"

"Yeah. ...and many more." Dante chuckles, feeling himself smile, finally opening his eyes to look at the clear, beautiful night skies. He's knows Vergil is nearby, but Dante isn't in the mood to fight anymore; all of his irked energy evaporated away from hits, swings, and punches. The night sky glitters with the white brilliant stars and he can't help but adore them.

It's his own way of admiring the beauty of nature. He's missed looking up and silently seeing constellations. It also calms him- oh the odd ways nature works its beauty on him. Mother Nature is perhaps the lucky woman for him- Lady Luck isn't on his side at all.

Though a part of him has to ask, "Say, Verge? Did you pick this spot out because it was remote?"  
Was it because it was far away from the city, where the lights have started to blind the view of the stars he loves to look up at night? Or is it because it's so far that nobody can see them spar in their demonic selves or was it because it's just... there?

Dante will never know.

He hears footsteps approach him, gliding against the ground before stopping in front of Dante. He knows Vergil is looking down at him, Yamato still out, but Dante ignores him in favor for the stars. "...there's more stars than I thought."

"Hmn." Vergil has a slight frown marring his face, but he sighs, sheathing Yamato back, and instead decides to sit. He's still looking at Dante anyway- and decides to obscure his view of the skies. "Maybe next time we should try this in the daylight."

"Why? Are the stars making you envious, brother?" Dante barely sits up, looking at his older twin. Is Vergil really petty, being jealous that his attention is directing at identifying the North Star than him and another dance of the swords?

If it was, then it really is hilarious. Why did Vergil think that, out of all the things? He, out of all the people, should know Dante really enjoys a beautiful scenic view from the outdoors. In between killing demons and going from city to home and back, there's little time to view the rare wonders Earth itself offers.

"...no." Reluctant and slow in response. That makes Dante chuckle and Vergil glares at him. "You're distracting yourself."

"Maybe, it's just- sorry. I've missed this." And he lies back down, hands over his head this time. He doesn't see Vergil's surprised reaction. "For the months down when we were taking care of our own business in the Underworld- the tree- I missed looking at the night sky... the stars. They're so breathtaking."

Vergil doesn't say anything, his gaze still on him before he let out a rather quiet huff. "So I take it you've admit defeat for the night?"

"Hey! I didn't say it like that!" Dante protests, but he spies the small smirk on Vergil's lips. "Argh. Fine. To make you feel better, yeah. For tonight. But I'm going to kick your ass next time."

"Hopefully without the help of your other arms. Have you gotten weak again without the use of your famed sword?" Vergil playfully taunts. Dante sticks his tongue out with a flat glare.

And for a second, nothing happens. Then the two of them chuckle, as if remembering their childish teasing and banter from as young as five. But the tables were different: it was Dante who taunts, Vergil who responds back. It's more fond than Dante likes to admit; he really misses those days.

He missed being alone with Vergil too.

"Man. I missed that." Dante chuckles, closing his eyes again before opening them- back to the night sky. "Remember, when we used to sneak out of our rooms in the summer? I wanted to be outside so bad and play around with the fireflies. You just stayed until I begged for you to come."

"It's only because you wouldn't stop persisting I would miss the fireflies." Vergil's eyes also grow fond, recalling the way his younger twin would clutch his hand, animated and drawing him out of his own sheltered room. "Yet I came. There were none, but we played all night."

"And I would point out the stars while you listened- even though you mentioned I talk too much."

"You still do ramble at times." But Vergil's no longer annoyed by those. He silently wants Dante to talk about the constellations and myths again.

In the end, when it was nearing midnight, Vergil would be the one who wanted Dante to stay outside with him for the rest of the night- nothing and no one bothered them to sleep in their own rooms. It was a silent desire of his, to be with his younger twin alone with nobody else to separate them. And when he wakes, he would relish in the sight of Dante sleeping next to him, buried in his chest and Vergil holds him tighter, wanting to stay there forever.

Vergil doesn't want to admit he's missed being close with Dante.

"Yeah... the fun nights. Mom and Dad were super angry at us for sleeping outside, but it was worth it." Dante's chuckles ebbs down, childhood memories returning to him and his eyes glaze over. But it comes away quickly as it came- he realizes his head is now lifted and down again, but propped on something warm.

Wait-

Is his head on Vergil's lap?

He tries not to react, but the action makes him look up- and Vergil isn't looking at him, instead, looking somewhere else. If he looked hard enough, said man was flushing a light red, but attempts to calm himself. "...Vergil?"

"I think we can have the night to ourselves." Vergil quietly muses. "Don't you think we deserve it, after this?"

"Yeah..." Dante lightly smiles, closing his eyes to relax. He's sincerely touched by Vergil's intimate gesture- he's missed this. It's very close, kind and... well, he has to admit, he's missed this side of Vergil. He also hopes also Vergil doesn't see his blushing face- aside the fighting, this is the closest he's ever been to him in years.

"I'm just going to close my eyes for... about five minutes. Wake me up so we can head back home, okay? ...Surprise me one of these days..."

"I will." Though Vergil has no desire of returning to the chaos space called 'home'. Not when he and Dante are on their own.

Of course, when Dante's lightly breathing and those five minutes passed, Vergil finally looks at Dante: sleeping, calm, quiet. A graceful, genuine smile appears, hands brushing against his brother's long silver hair. "I think with what I've been giving you, I already have."

Speaking of, it should arrive tomorrow, shouldn't it?

"If only you understand the meanings of what I've been trying to say, Dante..."

* * *

 

If it wasn't for the fact that everyone but Nero (who has this mix of laughter and second-hand embarrassment look) decided to bombard Dante with the questions of 'Where the ever loving fuck did he fuck off to last night' and Vergil has retreated to talk some business with Morrison (bastard actually had the decency to leave him to the ladies, which- let's be honest, wasn't helping), then Dante would have noticed a bouquet of small yet vibrant sunflowers, plucky white and yellow daisies, and deep blue violets attached on long stems, waiting for him at his desk.

He does much later at three in the afternoon: after he took a shower, shaved his stubble off, and changed into more simpler, comfortable clothing - and makes a good effort to replenish the vase and flowers with new water and nutrients. He already knows the first bouquet of flowers are starting to shrivel and wither, but he manages to save at least three of the flowers to press them against books. It's an old timed practice, but he's fond of it. 

But its the card that suddenly gets his mind rethinking on the last two messages he's received: **_'Despite everything of myself, you are my loyalty, devotion. To my one and only.'_**

Once again, on the back, neatly in pencil: ' ** _To Dante'_**

He doesn't say it out loud, but Dante is very much touched by these things (now he's wishing he hasn't shaved because holy shit he feels his face heat up) and the cards together read like an absolute cliched to no end love letter.

And yes, he'll never... ever admit to it, Dante really likes it.

But again, for how many times- three? It's three bouquets now?

He looks at the one he's just replaced (paper and ribbon gone, straight into the trash), the now old bouquet that's been nicely preserved, and the one that he's silently thinking about replacing in the living room.

...still...

Who, in their ever loving mind, is sending these to him!?

* * *

The fourth bouquet that came in was-

-shall one say, intricate.

Though out of all the people who recognized the flower, it wasn't Nero. It definitely wasn't Nico either.

(Although the kid try to deck him when Dante playfully suggested squash flowers as a pizza topping. It earned Nico and Vergil's confusion and Dante knows Nero will be more than **delighted** to stab Dante with his own sword... again. Never let it be known that Legendary Devil Hunter can be immature teasing man.)

No, this happened after Dante and Nero decided to spar- testing their own abilities as Vergil watched, silently observing one more than the other. They were within what Nero (un)helpfully calls their new training grounds- to Dante, it's just an empty warehouse Morrison recommended for spars and fighting training within the city. And Nico comes in with-

"Kyrie!" Nero gasps, his human arm returning as he takes off the newly broken Buster. He has the biggest smile anyone has seen and Kyrie returns the same sentiment when she embraces him. "Oh, I missed you!"

"It's only been about a week." Kyrie giggles, her eyes dancing with delight at Nero's reaction. "And we just spoke on the phone last night."

"I know, I know..." The younger man sheepishly chuckles, but it drops to a blushing glare when Nico guffaws. "Shut up."

"Welp, **someone's** whipped." The mechanic laughs, even earning Dante's laughter too. Vergil is still a few feet away, not sure what or how to escape this area. But from the way Kyrie greets both men, he's sure leaving them alone isn't... a good idea. "So I did you a favor, Nero, and picked her up- I thought you needed a nice surprise from the entire week we've been stuck here."

"From what car?" Nero flatly asks, "You nearly fried the engine off the trailer."

"Hey! It's being repaired!"

Kyrie shake her head before approaching Dante and Vergil- though the latter does stiffen a bit at face of unfamiliar company. She simply nods at Vergil before standing next to Dante. "They will never stop fighting, will they?"

"Hey, they're business partners. Bickering is a must in this type of business." Dante chuckles, knowing how he and Trish are. Lady too, but it's two babes against one. "So, Miss Kyrie, are you planning to stay here until their car's all fixed?"

She nods, a small blush on her face. "I... well, called Nero and he sounded rather frustrated about a couple of events."

"Hey, it'll do the kid some good when you're here." Dante laughs. He knows how it feels to miss someone without saying it. Especially since-

-well, the time to talk about it isn't now.

Instead he continues, "So, how did you find us?"

"Your motorcycle." Kyrie's smile tilts into a flustered laugh when Dante groans, hanging his head in that realization. "I suppose you made your way here on your own?"

"To train? Well, with the kid, yeah. Vergil just arrived and watched." Speaking of, he eyes his older brother, who just narrows his glare back at him. "Hey, Verge! Come say hi to Kyrie. It's good to be social once in a while."

"Perhaps now's not the best time." Though he nods back to her and she returns the gesture.

Dante sighs- before barely hearing Nico call out Dante's name. "What? Look, I don't plan to be the middleman with your trailer issues-"

"No nonono. No, I came to deliver this lovely set of flowers to you!" Nico then hands him over a-  
-oh, for the love of God, it's another bouquet and of course, he gingerly takes the card and pockets it without anyone noticing. If this is becoming a pattern, he'd better read this one much later without prying eyes.

But these flowers- creamy yellow-white, blush pink, and ruby red, intricate with their hundreds of petals- look eerily familiar. He doesn't look to see Nero sigh with a mix of exasperation and amusement while Nico rattles on about the delivery person trying to send these to the office. This flower... Dante only's seen in images and at the most intricate of weddings and important events.

So what type of-

"Oh! These chrysanthemums look beautiful!" Kyrie gasps and suddenly Dante looks at her in surprise. "I've never seen a red one this close."

"I'm- wait, chrysanthemums?" Dante asks again, eyes scrunching in confusion as he looks back at the bouquet again. No wonder these multi-petaled flowers look familiar. It reminded him of the mum flowers, but not this intricate!

Kyrie nods.

"How-"

"For a few years, I wanted to grow my own flowers. It's a silly little dream, but I've been wanting to make a flower garden." Kyrie giggles, glancing at Nero, who looks away in shy admission. "Since Nero gave me carnations that one time-"

"You managed to remember that!?" Said kid balks, face now red.

"I still do, silly! A bouquet of red, pink, and white carnations, right? It was the first romantic gift you ever gave me. And I love it." And Kyrie walks towards him before gently brushing away dust from his jacket. "Back then, I wanted you to give me a rose or a tulip."

(If Nero hears Nico snickering and Dante chuckling, he doesn't hear. Nor does he see a realization click in Vergil's mind- and hides a small smile behind his hand. Like father, like son- it seems as if they thought about the same thing.)

"Ahhh... yeah." And Nero looks sheepish, humiliated by that thought. "About that-"

"I was upset when one of the priests disapproved of it, telling me it's trash." Kyrie sighs, seeing the surprise on Nero's face. "Credo was very much against what the priest said, saying it was a simple romantic gesture. But the priest made me throw it away, saying that it was very useless and served no purpose. The gesture was so touching... I still love those carnations you stole from the church altar."

Well, that explains so much about **that.** If Dante can bet on anything for once, it wasn't Nero's fault to begin with. But if anything, that did lift up some form of relief from the kid- he was kicking himself over it the entire time.

"So-" Nero gapes before a huge sigh of relief escapes him. He softly laughs, suddenly hugs Kyrie and twirls her around. "Oh! Kyrie... you have- no idea how much that relieved me!"

She smiles and reciprocates the embrace with one of her own.

"What did I do to deserve a wonderful person like you?" Nero murmurs, burying his head in the crook of her neck.

"Being yourself." Kyrie murmurs, "I still love all the things you do that you try to impress me, when it's your personality and everything I love."

"Kyrie..."

Nico quietly approaches Dante, not wanting to disrupt this intimate moment. Vergil has just resumed back to reading whatever book he's bought from the local bookstore- being in front of a loving couple isn't his thing.

"Why am I not surprised the Order are such huge assholes?" Dante mutters under his breath and earns Nico's stifled snickers.

"Eh, they're uptight shitwads. What did you expect from a nutty crazy cult?" Though Nico grins, noticing the bouquet in his hands. "Well, Mister Dante. I have to admit, whoever is giving you flowers must really like you."

"...yeah." And he looks down at the bouquet of chrysanthemums. He can't help but fight it, but he feels himself softly smiling, looking at these extraordinary beautiful flowers. "I... they're beautiful."

_But why are you giving me something I don't deserve?_

* * *

Dante gets the chance to read the card, but that was much later in the night.

Later, as in, after they decided to return to the office, Nero offers to take Kyrie out to dinner (they honestly deserve it), Nico decides to order out this time- Chinese and both Dante and Vergil are okay with that- there's so much pizza one can take before getting sick of it. The ladies are off on their own for the night, deciding to hit up some sort of bar hopping with a few of Lady's friends.

After finishing dinner and Nico's watching something on that Netflix program (occupying the living room), it's just the two of them in the usual office space and Vergil is the one sitting at the chair, reading another book while Dante is fussing with the new sets of flowers.

"I wonder what this means..." Dante quietly muses, finally placing the last white chrysanthemum in the vase. He doesn't see Vergil's eyes shift to him when Dante suddenly recalls the card he's had in his pocket, and fishes it out. He mentally notices the card was a bit dented, but that didn't matter. What was important was the message written on it-

**_'My love for you intertwines with infinity. I intent to stay true to you, forevermore.'_ **

Again, on back, in pencil- **_'To Dante'_**.

"Geez." There's a very obvious blush sprouting on Dante's face, running his hand through his silver hair. Okay, so this one was... pretty clear-cut.

Shit. Dante's officially flustered and he doesn't know how to react to this. "This- whoever this is..."

"Is something bothering you?" He blinks and finally realized he wasn't the only one in the room.  Vergil is still here with him, but there's a worried look in his eyes that Dante is surprised to see.

"A-Ah, not really?" He feebly attempts to hide the card, but Vergil was faster- in which he was gone from his chair and plucks out the card from Dante's hands. What made Dante startled was that Vergil is now standing behind him, a closed book in his hands. "Hey, Vergil-!?"

"I wonder, my dear brother," Vergil quietly reads over the message on the card, "If you have received other messages akin to this one."

"...I don't." He lies through his now nervous teeth. Shit. Shit shit shit! If Vergil finds out Dante gets into a nervous mess reading these sappy romantically cliched cards-

"Hm." He stops, seeing Vergil's smile thinly appear on his face, something akin to musing interest. "I'm not sure if you're telling me the truth."

"W-Why would you say that?" He can feel his heartbeat thundering in his ears- but it rapidly picks up when Vergil gives the card back to Dante, even more so when his fingers ever-so lightly brush against his hand. "It's none of your business, Verge! Why does it matter?"

Also why **did** Vergil want to know about the cards? Does he know anything about them?

His older twin stares at him- and then he chuckles. There's another emotion that crosses his face, but Dante can't pinpoint it. Then he leans over closer, his face meeting Dante's and now the younger brother is all nervous. When his hand touches his again- yeah okay, that's really intimate. Dante's feeling really hot under his own clothing and he amusingly whispers, "Your ears. I've forgotten how easily flushed you can get- are you someone who secretly adores cliched romances?"

Dante gawks, attempting not to make any mortified sounds at this nor at how Vergil knew about that-

-to only feel Vergil's hand reluctantly let go of Dante's and it makes Dante want to grab hold of Vergil's hand, never letting go.

"Verge?"

"Hm?"

"If-" Man, why the fuck is he nervous? Dante takes a deeper breath- and then quietly looks at his brother with whatever amount of energy he has remaining. "-actually, I've been getting these flowers from someone for a while. I want to know why I'm getting them... when I don't deserve them."

Vergil is staring at him with a rather strange look. And Dante was definitely not expecting a soft chuckle from him. Of course, being the snide older twin that he was, Vergil can just make him feel bad for getting these flowers-

"Perhaps whoever this person **wants** to show their true feelings to you." 

And Dante definitely was not expecting Vergil's fingers to gently trace his face, nor this response- What is this, 'Let's make Dante blush' day!? 

"Conventional? Perhaps. But romantic? Potentially." Vergil's smile grows cryptic. "...possibly trying a **different mean** to convey their deepest feelings. It isn't something one can blurt outright without scaring the other away."

And he lets his face go, but the gaze is intense.

"Here's another thought for you, Dante: look at the flowers. The way they come in- What are they all trying to tell you?"

* * *

It's the next day and Dante is the first to be awake. A small victory he has over Vergil, but he isn't exactly in the immature celebratory mood.

His mind draws back to the conversation from last night he had with Vergil, back to the flowers he's gotten, and now he's staring at the trio of chrysanthemums. He wonders if these mums hold a different meaning to them than just being pretty, but was it worth the trouble to?

A part of him wants to hold onto the mystery, wanting to hold onto the thought until the next bouquet arrives. But if it doesn't, then Dante really wants to start looking for the person who gives him these flowers and just tell said person: "Why are you giving these to me and what are you trying to tell me!?"

As if he'll get anything out of that.

Instead, Dante just groans, closing his eyes and burying it back in his arms-

"Is something eating at your thoughts?"

Dante nearly yelps, but he heaves a sigh of relief when he sees his partner (in crime), approaching with two mugs of hot coffee and a plate of pastries. "Trish! What the- you scared me!"

"Hm, well, someone has to in this place." The blonde chuckles, seeing Dante roll his eyes and look back at the flowers. After setting the much needed food and drink down, she eyes the new bouquet. "Another one from your unknown admirer?"

"Another- wait." He has never said a thing about who is was from. But this was a new hint. "Admirer?"

"Your last three gifts were flowers too, right? All in different forms, but they tend to lean to a similar message." And she decides to perch on the side of the desk where she usually sits- plucking one of the mini scones to nibble on it. Her gaze is still on the vase of chrysanthemums. "Roses, Dante, aren't the only flowers adept in the language of love."

"...huh, if you don't say." His eyes narrow, now in interest. "Nero was just telling me flowers have meanings to them. Vergil was just telling me that bouquets have a message. How much do you know about the language of flowers, Trish?"

"A lot more than you think." Trish's smiling with... something she knows and he doesn't. "I may have read up on flowers on the months you've been gone. Something to soothe me of boredom." 

"Right." Trish and flowers? This can't be a correct combination. He gently sips his coffee- ow, still hot. "So, tell me: if you know so much, can you tell me the meaning behind the flowers I've been getting?"

Said woman pretends to think before she starts to laugh. This offends him, but her eyes are filled with mirth, her hand on his shoulder. "I'm sorry! It's just- ohhh if only you can get it. I've been eyeing these gifts of flowers since they first came in and I got the message."

"But I don't study flowers!"

"Then start researching, o man of romance." Trish picks up her mug and drinks the caffeinated beverage. "Think about it, Dante: who in this office is this close enough to know you the most?"

Dante blinks- and then he stills.

Once. Twice. And thrice-

_"Good things come to those who wait. For you, though... I think it will take more for you to understand."_

-and he barely eeks out a quiet, "...fucking hell."

Trish smiles, eyes narrowing. She **knows**. "Well?"

That comment- plus other lingering thoughts from last night- explains so many things. "For- all this time? It's been happening for all this time??"

Trish shrugs when he stares at her. "Hey, don't look at me, I'm only here to nail something in that dense skull of yours."

"I'm not thick-headed! I was just too busy. ...thinking." 

Trish quietly chuckles; they both know very well that it's one of Dante's lame excuses.

Dante takes out his cellphone - he's improving with some of Nero's advice ( _"Don't break it or else you might be paying for whatever damages scratch the phone surface-"_ ) and starts to relook at the webpage that describes about heliotropes. 

Looking at the site, he thumbs over one page and reads over it- and then suddenly he looks over another flower. He types another one, Queen Anne's Lace,  in the search and finds its meaning.

This goes on for a couple of minutes. He leans back, finally deciding its a good idea to sit on the ground, back against his desk. He was stunned, his mind slowly piecing together the bouquets and the meanings they represented- was he really **that** dense?

If it now takes four bouquets of flowers and persistent nagging of looking the flowers up, then yes, this is... getting pretty obvious. 

But now- the problem is how to respond to this. Clearly, this wasn't the way he wanted to go about it: he wanted it to be slow, careful, calculative. Dante's is- well, blunt, straight-forward. And if he did it his way, there's a high chance that things won't end well and Dante might get punched in the face for it. Or stabbed.

...what did he do to deserve these flowers, even after what they have gone though?

That's the million dollar question he has in his mind.

Then he looks back at Trish, who still has the Cheshire cat grin on her face.

"...say, Trish?" Dante has a feeling about this. "If I ask you for a favor, what do you want for payment?"

"Hm, for a start, some form of vacation time will be nice?" She laughs when he glares at her. "I'm joking! Though a good break would be nice- for me **and** Lady."

"So that you two ladies have your own private moment?" He chuckles, feeling her pinch his arm. "Ow! Geez, I know you two have gotten close, just teasing you about it. But okay, Verge and I'll pick up the slack. Maybe hand a few to Nero for good measure- you determine the time, though. I'm not that uptight."

"It's a deal." Trish chuckles, her eyes twinkling with delight. "So, what would you like for me to do?"  
Dante carefully takes out one of the blue violet and inspects it- it's been intricately taped around a green wire and bent to match the stems of the other flowers. An idea slowly comes to him... a terrible yet simple idea.

And he hopes to whatever frigging deity exists that's been so nice to him he doesn't get stabbed with anything stupidly pointy and sharp. ~~Namely Yamato~~.

"I need you to look something for me."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> * I can just imagine Dante flipping off at any enemies if they do that. ...though I'd imagine reactions will not be pleasant...


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Final part! And well, this will end rather well, I believe.  
> And now I'll be... writing about something else within this fandom. I'm embarrassed to say this, but this fandom inspires me so much. Thank you all, I hope you enjoy this chapter!

_**A few days ago** _

 

The tell-tale chime of the door indicates to the florist she's received a customer.

And well, just in time: it's about ten in the morning and she's just finished her beloved coffee. As soon as she sets her coffee cup down, there's the polite smile- before it changes to a rather amusing one. "Oh! Well, look who's back."

Said customer just nods before pursuing around the shop.

The woman shrugs, deciding to tie her black hair back before the bell rings again. It's another customer and she decides to tend to their needs. It was about a good thirty to forty minutes later after the person left with a bouquet of sweetbriar roses and borages (for a get well gift for a coworker) that the first customer approaches her, looking lost and conflicted.

"Ah, so do you need some help?" The woman chuckles.

"...I need some advice."

"Oh?" She blinks. "What about?"

The man pauses- before he sighs. Normally he would never ask for help, especially in something like this. But four bouquets later, the person he gave it to never picked up on his meanings. So of course he would have to ask. "...In any normal circumstances, I would tell him how I would feel."

"But?"

"...I'm overthinking all of this." The man's eyes narrow, knowing there was a secondary part. "He still doesn't understand what I've been giving him."

Even though there are cards you gave me to accompany them? She thought it was clear, but whoever the person these flowers are for must either not know or... is like any other person and just thinks the flowers look pretty and ignore the cards altogether.

"Okay, let's start with this." The florist has an idea in her mind. "What type of flower suits the guy you like?"

He stares at her as if she's insane.

She clears her throat, pretty clear that inquiry didn't make sense. "Sorry. It's early in the morning, my mind isn't cooperating. Let me reword that question: What flowers is he most familiar with?"

That, he pauses before a rather dry yet fond chuckle escapes him. "Roses. He doesn't want to admit it, but he loved roses."

Roses?

"All right, that's a new start." So this man has an intense crush on someone who is... hilariously cliched in all aspects of romance. Great. Something that could have been awesome to know from the **very** beginning, but the man didn't even bother about. Ah well, she doesn't ask why. "Do you want to give him a bouquet of roses and see if that gets your message through?"

He blinks as if the very thought offends him. Then he sighs, his hand on his face before slowly nodding. "...yes. If possible. If the others don't show it... then this will do."

"Good!" She claps her hands in delight. Finally getting somewhere here! "What color roses do you want to show?"

She attempts not to laugh at his baffled stare. That urge to start laughing rises even more when he glowers at her with a well-timed death glare. Being in this area for more than one year taught her how to deal with the shittiest of customers- so this guy is honestly not bad, even with the supposed demonic glare he attempts to stab at her.

Seriously, with all the ups and downs that came with this business, this guy can be mentally classified as 'sane'. There are some employees she knows that aren't so lucky with regulars, but hey, they can't be choosers. Neither can their interesting customers.

"There's more than just red, white, and pink roses. They do come with their messages if you give it to them on their own-"

"Red." His voice is determined. "It has to be red."

Aaahhh, so aiming up high?

True love? The florist hums, holding up one finger to check on the amounts of red roses the shop has on hand- shipment already came and there's so many flowers placed up and they have been steady. But as for red roses? "...We do have red roses, but that depends on how many you want. I only have enough for one bouquet's worth for today. I can get more for later in the week. For how many people want to get them? I can't promise you anything."

The man thinks as in thought. "Then supplement it with equal parts orange."

She blinks. Once. Twice- "Red... and orange. That is doable. How many?"

"Twelve red, twelve orange."

"...twelve? Each??*" Was this man... okay, she's not asking.

Then like all of the other times, he takes out something from his coat pocket: a white envelope. If she knows this guy's pattern, there's a card with a written message in it for the same guy. "Is it different for this arrangement?"

"I can charge you for two rose bouquets, but with something like a discount so it shouldn't be as much as those last bouquet you got. Which, speaking of, those chrysanthemums finally came, so I should be able to make that bouquet today with no issues." The florist chuckles, noting his surprise. "Do you want it early as possible?"

"Take your time." The man quietly responds. Relief is on his face. "But for the roses- can you call this number to let me know when it is ready?" With that, she notices he hands her a phone number that's neatly written on it along with his method of payment. "I don't want the option for someone else to deliver this."

Huh. Weird. What's gotten him to do that all of the sudden? "Got it." The florist nods. "Do you want me to arrange it a particular way?"

The man pauses for a minute before shaking his head. "Arrange it how you best see fit. I'm no good at this... I leave that judgement up to you."  
And he leaves, but she's surprised about him not picking up the change. Instead, she blinks, taking both money and the white card, and sighs, looking back at the phone number he handed to her. Though she can't help but fight the smile- she has an idea how this guy want this bouquet prepared.

"Time to get to work."

* * *

**_Fast-forward to present day_ **

 

The rotary phone rings and Dante scowls when Vergil snatches it- of course Trish and Vergil are the first two to steal the phone before he does. "Thanks, what if it's a job?"

"You'll know." Vergil flatly responds, "Devil May Cry."

There's a pause and something perks in his expression- in fact, one that Dante can't tell is a good thing because this gets Vergil's attention. "And- may I ask about the time?"

Huh?

Well, whatever the case is, he doesn't think about it as much when he sees Trish enter into the office with Lady. "Ah! Ladies, you came in just in time. Nico's wondering if you still need gun repairs before they go to the road."

"Oh. Where's Nero and Kyrie?" Trish questions.

Dante grins, "Nero's still sleeping up there with Kyrie. Apparently, whatever happened last night made them tired."

"Ahhhh." Trish's teasing smile appears on her face. "And Nico's at the trailer, making the final touch-ups?"

"I might have asked her to repair whatever you did of Kalina Ann when you borrowed her last. So their trailer got fixed?" Lady snickers, seeing Dante's slight annoyed face. "Admit it, it's one good way to destroy a demon."

"By running into one and turning it into roadkill? Nope." It's not even a dignified death- either Nico was really impatient with driving or the said demon must have been particularly stupid. "But uh... are you still bitter about-"

"I still need payment for Kalina Ann II, you know." Lady smirks, narrowing her eyes and Dante groans. "You owe me for that, by the way."

"I get it, I get it..." And then he suddenly hears Vergil hang up the rotary phone. "So? Who was that?"

Vergil deftly avoids the question with a murmur of, "I have an errand to run. I'll be back."

"Wait, what errand?"

But Vergil has left the office, throwing his blue coat in haste. This left the three of them staring after him and the now closing doors.

"Huh, what was that about?" Dante frowns before sitting back on his chair. This... was a bit surprising of his brother to do that. But it's not like before in which he left for long hours, returned after for a brief moment. No, this one is like his typical errand running habit: leave quickly, come back within an hour or two. Ah well.

Dante has more things to worry about, namely-

"I found what you asked for, by the way." Trish hums, taking up seat on Dante's desk, next to the rotary phone. This, of course, piques Lady's interest as she approaches closer. "It took quite a bit for us to find out about those flowers."

"Perfect- wait." Then he turns to Lady, who waves back. "Are you _serious?_ "

"Well, Dante," Trish crosses her arms. "When you get the oddball assignment of finding out what florist these flowers come from, I don't think the typical grocery stories supplies chrysanthemums as their 'go to flowers'."

"Oh."

"They're from a local florist a bit far from the office, but that's the most I can give you before you decide what to do next." Typical Trish, but Dante can't argue with that. It's okay she doesn't give him anymore details than that, all he needed to know was where were the flowers coming from.

"That's fine. I'll... I know what to do from here." Dante sighs in relief. "...though in turn, I did look all of those flowers up."

"Oh good! Did anything useful come up from that?" Trish asks, her curiosity piqued.

He feels his face slowly heat up, a light blush staining his cheeks. "One of them... did catch my eye. Then I looked up more. And I found out meanings to all of the bouquets I got."

Trish tries her best **not** to break out laughing. But Dante's face is slowly growing red from the sudden kicks of realization to his mind. Lady also notices and she hides it behind her hand. "Oh dear, looks like you opened up a rather interesting Pandora's Box."

"Trish..." Dante sighs, covers his very red face with his hands. "Oh my God why the hell did I not see it sooner?"

"Because... you're quick on the uptake in missions but not so much in the romance department?" Lady helpfully giggles, earning his glare. "I kid. So. Dante. Now that you know... what now?"

Said man was about to say something when the rotary phone breaks through whatever train of thought starts to ramble in his brain. This time Trish picks it up and he allows her- he needs a minute to cool himself.

"Devil May Cry." She smoothly responds before she blinks. "Oh? I'm... sorry, but he's not here at the moment. May I- actually, let me give you the phone to someone else who can help."

"Huh?" Dante blinks as Trish hands him the phone, smiling serenely. "Uh-"

"For you, Dante." She sings and suddenly Dante has this sinking feeling Trish is plotting something. "It's- well, rather urgent."

"What are you plotting?" And he takes the phone before smoothly (to the best he could without breaking into embarrassing sounds) asking, "Devil May Cry, Dante speaking."

"Oh- so you're not Mister Vergil?" A woman's voice calls through.

"No... but I'm someone close to him." That's odd, what would Vergil call a woman for? A part of him feels offended that Vergil has kept something from him, but he continues anyway. He'll interrogate his older twin when he gets back from... whatever errand he was running. "Can I ask who I'm speaking to?"

"Ah yeah! I'm Kara- I work at White Florals." A floral shop? That gets his attention straight up. Was this why-? "Sorry about that. I should- okay, normally I would not say anything about it, but I forgot something. I made a bouquet of flowers for him. He said it was for someone close to him, and I just finished it for him to pick it up- and he did. But I forgot to put this one thing on the bouquet of-"

"Wait! That item-" Dante finds himself standing up, heartbeat clear in his mind, the phone on the other. He knows and at this point, there's a pattern to the four bouquets he's received. "Is it, by any chance, a small white card in an envelope?"

"It is- wait, how did you-" The woman on the other line stops when there's a bell ringing on the other end. "Oh, sorry, can you hold on for just a minute? I- hang on-" He can barely hear her talk, but thank God for his abnormal hearing.

"Oh! You came back-"

"There's something missing." And Dante's eyes widen, recognizing the voice in an instant.

_Vergil!?_

There's a nervous sigh with a muttering apology- "Here, I'm very sorry about that, it's been busy this morning, but I just remembered it-"

"It's fine. I am rather in a hurry." Vergil's sounding rather off. "...Miss. I have one last question to ask."

"Sure?"

"How do you tell someone how much you love them?"

Dante stills, positive he's going a bit crazy. But no... he feels the phone on his ear and the florist- as slightly forgetful as she is- is about to give Vergil love advice. And he's hearing every minute of it. Trish and Lady must have noticed the way Dante reacted- they glance at each other and must have disappeared somewhere, leaving him to do this alone.

_Please tell me I'm not hearing things._

There's a rather patient sigh. "About that... it depends. This person you want to confess to- that person is the same one you've been giving these bouquets to, correct?"

Vergil sounds like he's been caught. But the woman amusingly continues, "Why not just tell this person face to face? Blunt and to the point? There's a line as to how many gifts you can give someone without **telling** them."

"I understand." But Vergil murmurs, "...perhaps I'm just frightened of being rejected."

Dante? Rejecting **him?** Is he kidding?? If this was actually happening, it's Dante who should be scared Vergil will reject him!

"So... the cards?"

"Another attempt to tell him how I feel. I wonder... if he has read them all and not just one."

 _Was **that** what the cards were for?_ Dante still has them, opened, been rereading them like a poem every night since the first one arrived. He quietly opens the drawer without attracting any more attention and gingerly takes the four small cards out.

**_'To new starts and reformed beginnings, to you.'_ **

**_'For you are my haven, passion. My eternal.'_ **

**_'Despite everything of myself, you are my loyalty, devotion. To my one and only.'_ **

**_'My love for you intertwines with infinity. I intent to stay true to you, forevermore.'_ **

So... it is a love letter: from Vergil to Dante. The flowers? A reinforcement of how much Vergil loves him.

There's a low hum from the woman. "Cards read or not, it's how you respond that matters. Don't you think it's rather unfair for you to assume he hasn't read your cards? Look, if you're this worried your effort went to waste, ask him if he's read it. If he has, then well, there you go. If not, then tell him. I would just do it with those flowers in hand."

He hears her laugh- now Dante wants to know how Vergil is reacting to this. Never, in any way, has Vergil asked for any help from a stranger and asked for anything in return. "Buuuuut, if worse comes to worse, **just kiss the guy.** How bad can that be?"

"...that is extremely crude."

"Yeah, but if he didn't get the message in his mind, you might as well."

Dante can feel himself being really red and hot at this point. Holy shit. If Vergil followed any of these advice, he will silently find a way to make this florist happy and buy a lot of roses from her if it gives her business. If not- well, screw it, he'll have to thank her in some possible way.

And it sounds like Vergil is contemplating it- because he hears Vergil quietly thank her before hearing the bell chime. Then- "Oh shiii..." And then he hears a rather meek, "I'm so sorry-"

"I heard all of that." Dante is still dazed. Shock is now an understatement.

"...yeah, I know. I'm... so sorry about that." Well, she didn't hang up the phone, but from her panicked state, Dante can't help but feel bad for her. "Oh man, I don't want to get in trouble for this-"

"No no, it's okay." Dante barely retains his composure. "If- well, if you want, I won't say anything about it. Not when he arrives." Not when Vergil has gone through all of this trouble, to make this far only to find out Dante's overheard everything in the worst way possible.

"Even if that conversation was about..." The florist trails off, not wanting to say it.

"Y-Yeah. But I want to be surprised."

Honestly, there are other worse ways he could have known.. Dante could've been suspicious, more furious, angry, in a fight. Vergil could have been a major jackass, manipulative, arrogant, eager to kill. But no... that wasn't how it went.

Vergil was more calculative, planning than Dante was, but that didn't stop him chasing after him. It was when they were children that Dante who first shouted ' _I love you, Vergil!_ ' on top of his lungs, laughing with the delight when he sees Vergil's face blush a fantastic red. He kept saying it every time he hugs Vergil, when he holds his hands, when he was with his brother and he was kind to him.

And he silently thought that when he grabbed ahold of Vergil's hand at the top of that damned tower, to only have his left palm slashed, a horrified betrayed look on his face while seeing his older brother fall. _I love you, Vergil... why!?_

And he thought all feelings were dashed when he saw the helmet fly off Nelo Angelo's armor, revealing the ghastly pale, red-eyed, near demonic Vergil. He can't even comprehend the words- too much in shock to realize who he had just fought in Mallet Island.

They were buried deep in his mind so many years later and not once has he planned to reenter in there. It took him days, weeks, months, years to never dwell on it. Lady, Trish, Morrison, Nero, Kyrie... they knew someone was constantly on Dante's mind. But they respected his desires to never tell them: those feelings were only for him to determine, to say it when needed, to talk about it when he wants to. 

And then came the Qliploth tree and those words returned to him- but it wasn't him who said it. The feelings resurfaced, but it felt unknown, aching to him. Not when Vergil reappeared to him, alive, well... changed. _I- no, what if he betrays me again? I can't... I can't. There's no possible way. Not without being hurt again._

For a man who claims to be flamboyant in his actions, Dante doesn't even know the best way to say it to the now alive Vergil, whose gaze is blazed with an unknown emotion that Dante doesn't know. And he didn't say it. Not again, not after they returned from destroying the tree. Not after their transition back to the real world for three months.

Then... this.

The flowers Dante thought he doesn't deserve. Not even the bravest of deeds can make him worthy to receive a bouquet of flowers- he has too many blood on his hands. Why would Vergil give him such lovely things?

The cards that read to him like a lover's confession, something so intimate and deep that makes Dante filled with giddiness. But now that he knows it's from him... is this his other way of showing off his eloquence with words?

The night with the field, when Dante was stargazing and wondered why Vergil's eyes were mostly on him, not on the stars, even as he fell asleep on his lap.

...and now this.

At least he knows he isn't the only one who has kept these feelings after all these years. From the flower meanings he's read up on- he's looked them all up last night. What he wants to know now is what to say in return?

...what to say in return...

An idea perks in Dante's mind. "Hey... Kara? Can I ask you something?"

"Sure?" The florist suddenly sounds confused.

"I... want to get a bouquet." A rather soft, if not, quiet smile reaches him. "If it's possible for you to make such thing."

"Of course I can, but why?"

Dante knows this woman got through this much trouble to get Vergil some red and white chrysanthemums. So he might as well make this... well, his request can't be this easy either.

"...roses come in different colors, and I know some mean different things."

"...okay, I'm listening. What color roses do you want?"

Dante's lips tilt with an apologetic smile. If Vergil's on his way back now, he'll have to wait- because he now has an urgent errand to run. "What colors do you have available? As in right now?"

* * *

About a good hour later and barely dodging traffic, Dante manages to return, a few packages in hand- and opens the office to see Vergil patiently waiting for him, leaning against his desk. And he manages to look up as Dante shifts, swiftly hiding his package behind him. "Ah- h-hey, Verge! What are you doing here?"

Okay, so Vergil came back earlier than he thought!

Well.

...

...this is already not going so well, isn't it.

"Dante." Vergil's voice cuts through his thoughts before carefully approaching him. "Would it trouble you if we went somewhere else?"

"Ah? As in-"

"Now." He hears him quietly murmur, eyes narrowing in an attempt to see what Dante has behind him- and he edges it further away. "What do you have behind you?"

"Nothing! I'll-" And Dante eeks out, "I'll show it later! I promise."

Not if he wants to give him something like a response.

And Vergil must have bought it- because he simply nods. "The others aren't here."

"...they aren't?" ...eh?

"The ladies have left for the day, saying they have something of their own to do." And then with a rather annoyed frown, "...Nero, his woman, and that mechanic already left. They told that they'll give you a call when they made it back."

Oh. Well, that explains why he couldn't sense the kid in the guest room. But for Vergil to be bold enough to send his son off? Wow, that must have been interesting. Awkward as hell, maybe, but it's a step better than last time. Dante was the one who sent them his messages of 'be careful'. ...but Vergil was already gone in his room, being the one not social enough to approach others.

Yet when it came to... Dante...

...ah hell, he's just skipping around the point, isn't he?

"Uh, so... Vergil." The lack of his nickname catches his older brother's attention, but Dante barely chuckles, still holding onto something he's now gently placed on his desk. He leans back so Vergil doesn't see it. "Those... remember the other day how you mentioned about the bouquet of flowers? And how I should look at them?"

"Ah. It was just in passing. But what of it?"

"I... well, I looked the flowers up."

The look on Vergil's face was a bit priceless, so Dante continues to talk, "You know... that first bouquet of flowers I got? I was surprised- daffodils, lilacs, and honeysuckles. But that purple hyacinth caught my attention."

For a second, Vergil was surprised- but then his lips curl into a curious tilt. "What of it?"

"It's... really odd. I wasn't expecting a nice looking flower like that to be standing out among the rest of that lovely bouquet." And he looks away, recalling looking at it in confusion.

Vergil's eyes narrow, his interested smile returning. "What was your thought on that hyacinth? If you finally understood its meaning?"

Dante was about to gape and point out something- before he stops. Had it been long ago, he would have resorted to biting words and blunt statements to get to the goddamn point. And that was him as a more immature, younger man. Now that he's older, finally understanding it's more than just anger and fury to get through Vergil's damn head-

Oh, so it's like that, huh? All right, Dante can do this interesting little waltz. Vergil's in the lead, but that won't happen for any longer, now would he?

He decides to entertain Vergil for a bit, settling in for his sly grin. "Ah. That hyacinth- actually, before I get to that, can we just talk about that second bouquet that arrived?" He grins. "What I didn't know was that lilacs come in multiple colors- like carnations and roses. It's funny too, the kid recognized both of the other ones."

He swore for a minute Vergil was about to curse something off at his own son, but in Nero's defense, some old hag in the Order must have fed it to the kids, thinking it would taste like carrots. "Look, you ask him how, don't look to me for that. Queen Anne's Lace, heliotropes, nd magenta colored lilacs. It doesn't exactly fit the meaning of the entire bouquet, but the colors were pretty. But how am I a 'sanctuary' and being the one to be 'devoted' to? If anything... never mind, I'll keep those thoughts to myself. The magenta lilacs are- well, they're rare. I've never seen one up close until that day." And his amusement ebbs off into sheepish embarrassment, but there's a smile on his face. "...I didn't know they mean 'love and passion'."

Vergil's annoyed glance slowly changes into surprise and exasperated relief.

"Going back to the first one: purple lilacs, honeysuckles, daffodils... and that hyacinth." Dante pauses, attempting to sort out what meant what. "Purple lilacs are 'first love'. Honey suckles are 'devoted affection'. Daffodils are... 'new beginnings' or 'return my affections'." He barely states these without feeling his face grow warm, now slowly starting to understand how they connected to each other. And he swore he heard Vergil's soft chuckles, but he tries to calms himself down.  
He recalled when looking those up (sans the hyacinth), his face turned a rather brilliant, interesting shade of red and at that moment, thought a cold shower was very much needed. It took him a good thirty minutes later to resume searching for the language of flowers for the other three bouquets.

"...then the hyacinth-" Dante pauses before he sighs. This was going to be interesting- he's never one to talk about his own grievances. "I... that was interesting." He wraps his arms around himself, as if he's now in his own thoughts. He takes a very shaky breath. "Can- Can I just talk about the other two before I get to this one?"

"Go ahead." If Vergil slowly understands why this one was a heavy one, then he's more than patient enough to wait.

"Good." Some of his mischievous mood evaporates, but this time he closes his eyes. He feels his sly smile slip away, replaced with subdued fondness. "Then the third one: sunflowers, daises, violets. ...okay, that was out of the book cliched. Too obvious. But that works too." He opens his eyes, not looking at his brother for that. He'll spare Vergil the teasing in a moment. "I've heard sunflowers and daisies show 'loyalty'; another kind of love, right? Then the violets. How can someone get those in the a bouquet without strangling someone? Those must have been dainty."

If Vergil knew a thing about how that was possible, he didn't say. Instead, he raises an eyebrow, allowing Dante to continue.

"When I saw those- heh, that stupid poem came to mind. You know, 'roses are red, violets are blue'? I didn't think 'faithfulness' comes from that. But it did." He falls silent, glancing over at the still pristine chrysanthemums (at least he's attempting to keep them alive). "...but when these came, I had to know. I guess my curiosity got the better of me- though Trish was the one who mentioned that roses aren't the only types that show love."

There's a silence and Dante quietly plucks the ruby red chrysanthemum, carefully inspecting it. "I didn't know these come in pink either. I only thought of chrysanthemums as that flower used to drink for tea. Then... well, that card you saw. It made better sense after... all of that." He sets the flower down, still not budging from his place at the desk. But at this point, he might as well tell him, right? "I read all of the cards that came with the flowers. It wasn't just one message... it was all four of them."

He doesn't know how Vergil reacts.

"...to be fair, I kept it away from everyone. Hell, I wasn't even sure it was directed at me until Lady told me- she only read the first card." The day that he read the first line. "...back to the hyacinth." And here it comes. "...I didn't think about it until I looked that up. ...and I have to say, it's rather... interesting that the person would ask for my forgiveness in a bouquet."

He runs his hand through his hair, props the other on his desk to make sure he stays up. Here it comes... the one part he didn't want to address. However, between them, someone has to. "...it's been years. Since- well, everything took place. It's been really brutal for me to accept for years, for the things that took place. For... all of this. ...what should I say? It's not simple to forgive and forget everything. But for the person to go out of the entire way to do this..."

Dante closes his eyes, a soft, sad chuckle escapes him. "You know, I wasn't expecting the flowers to be given to me."

He's not sure what Vergil's thinking right now. "Why's that?"

"Because I don't deserve them." Dante looks away, not wanting to see Vergil's reaction to the thought he was mentally wracking all this time. "Flowers... are gifts of gratitude, intimacy, thankfulness. Giving them shows how much one cares for the other. But to me- I mean-" A bitter chuckle escapes him. "There's so many things I've done that harmed more than-"

"Stop it." And he looks to feel Vergil standing next to him, hand on his cheek. He stops whatever thoughts try to kick at Dante's head, wondering if he made a right decision from day one. The way his cool hand feels against his warm skin makes his heartbeat thrum faster than normal. "Dante. Listen to me. For whatever reason you think you do not deserve these things, stop it."

The other barely whispers, "Stop what, Verge?"

"Acting like good things shouldn't come to you, not when things are starting to shift for the better." Was it obvious he was shocked by the flowers? Probably (he did ask Lady if the first bouquet was deliberately sent as a prank). But he's more surprised when he feels the cool hand gently brush his hair back- how often does Vergil does this? Never when they were older.

...a part of him bets if they were younger, Vergil would have gotten the chance to stab him.

But no. It's all touches, gracing brushes, worried looks, nights to themselves with nobody else to disturb them.

Would this have been Vergil years ago? Would his own younger self accept this like he does now?

"You..." Dante manages to mumble, having some of those thoughts escape him. "Vergil... why are you telling me this?"

"Because you, out of all people, did change something for the better." Vergil's hand slowly, carefully, intimately brushes along Dante's cheek. His ice blue eyes meet against Dante's warm blue eyes, heads touching each other. "You made me understand things I should have when I was younger. ...you helped me, Dante."

Oh.

"So-" His suspicions and then that phone call were on point-

-to which he decides the first thing to do was to kiss Vergil.

Wait-

-WHAT DID HE JUST DO?

He can barely get the other's reaction to this and Dante suddenly realizes- in all of his thoughts about how to respond to the bouquets, he was again, the first to initiate something- shit, this wasn't part of it!

"Fuck, sorry-" He gasps, trying to find some escape route-

-to only hear a rather incredulous huff that sounds like laughter, feels another arm wrap around his waist like vice, and Vergil kisses him back.

It was more insistent, needy- and it was what Dante wanted. What they both wanted. Their tongues intertwined, teethes clacking, feeling insistent- was this how Vergil felt this entire time?

So when he tries to break off to breathe, he is not at all surprised when he hears a low growl escape Vergil's throat. "Verge- I- I need to breathe. You know? Oxygen?"

"You could have been fine about a few second more." Yet he feels a smirk against his own lips. If anything, some semblance of space feels like a personal offense to Vergil, so Dante allows him this. "...so you did read them."

"The cards?" Dante's laugh was breathless, gentle. "Did you write all of these yourself?"

"Of course. Who else could it have been?"

Dante pauses- but then he shakes his head. "Nobody but you can write something as a painstaking sappy love letter."

"Then I suppose there's no point into giving you the last part of it, is there?" Vergil's laugh was low, hoarse from their actions, but it was in delight. And Dante recalls the item he's hidden from Vergil for the last couple of minutes.

"Ah, about- actually-" And Dante barely turns, feeling Vergil's arm still around his waist, but he manages to get it before he pauses. "Not to point the obvious out, but I need room to give you this."

"And what would that be, my dear brother?" Vergil dryly asks, curious still before his eyes widen, seeing the item in Dante's hands. "...what the... what is this?"

"I should explain." Dante nervously chuckles and hopes to any sympathetic deity he doesn't get decked for this. And then he starts, "Your florist called and... uh, I happened to answer the phone because you were already gone." He continues, knowing how horrified Vergil looks at him, so he better talk fast. "Then- uh- I already knew from the start before the call, but I accidentally overheard what you talked to her about. So... I asked her for a favor."

 

_"...okay, I'm listening. What color roses do you want?"_

_Dante's lips tilt with an apologetic smile. If Vergil's on his way back now, he'll have to wait- because he now has an urgent errand to run. "What colors do you have available? As in right now?"_

_The florist hums, "Red, orange, pink, yellow, white, if you wanted the basics. ...but then I have the oddball ones: green, lavender- though it looks like purple, blue, and black."_

_Dante resists the urge to snort in laughter at the other parts. "Wait, you have the near impossible blue rose?"_

_"Ah, well, not really. It's white roses placed in blue dye water and it makes the white roses blue. The same goes for the black, but we don't get as many requests for the black often." Ah, so that explains it. "But we still give it, explaining that there's a high chance the rose might dry up before the blue dye runs out-"_

_"I'm on my way." Dante stands up, grabbing his jacket. "I'll compensate you for the massive troubles, but can you prepare me a blue and lavender rose bouquet? Nine total."_

_There's a rather surprised sound from her, but she softly laughs. "All right, give me about ten and I'll have it ready for you."_

_"Perfect! Where are you located?"_

 

"...it was hell trying to dodge traffic just to beat you back here." And to hide the nine roses he gave to Vergil.

Dante feels his face, red as his jacket. And he knows his older brother is silently judging him for this.

But if Vergil knows about the color meanings of roses, then he should know what Dante is trying to say. ...if the number of roses also matter, then he should know what Dante is also saying.

He feels Vergil's arm pull away from around his waist, Vergil's arms now inspecting the blue and purple roses Dante handed to him. Then he looks to him, a strange, tender flash in his eyes.

"I'll be back."

"Wha-" And he swore for a minute Vergil disappeared in front of his eyes.

Dante lets out a rather light-headed sigh as he decides now is a good time to sit down on the floor, resting his legs from standing up. Then he feels something gently placed on his lap and notices Vergil kneeling before him, looking at him with- wait, is Vergil blushing?

And then he finally looks down at the bouquet and sees it.

Twelve red, twelve coral orange roses-

"-you gave me twenty-four!?" Dante balks.

"It was originally twelve." Vergil huffs, this time being embarrassed. "But I thought that wasn't enough for you."

Said man blinks, once, twice. Then he breaks out into genuine laughter, holding onto the bouquets as if its the most precious thing in the world. "It is, you dumbass! Twelve red roses is more than enough for me to know what you're trying to tell me."

"...it still isn't enough." Vergil cracks a small smile before lifting Dante up. "There's more."

"I think I know." The tell-tale white card that is carefully nestled among the flowers. "Should I? I mean... I already know." He gently places the bouquet of roses on his desk- he'll probably find a good place for them.

"Indulge me then." Vergil smirks, eyes narrowing.

"God, me reading off something you made?" Dante grins, eyes narrowing as he gently opens the envelope. "Someone's narcissistic. Worse than me right now, don't you agree?"

"Perhaps. Isn't it appropriate? That we complement each other in this regard?" The other man chuckles, leaning against Dante. "We complete each other."

"Ha ha. I know." But there's no bite in his tone, taking out the last card before reading it.

**_'I love you- for nothing can tear us apart any longer. I know of my sins, what I want to atone, what I desire- all for you.'_ **

And he flips to the back and is surprised to find, written in black ink, not pencil: ** _'Dante, will you truly be mine?'_**

"Stupid." He chuckles, closing his eyes as he tilts his head, leaning into Vergil's face. The latter hums, gently kissing him already. "You already know."

"I know." Vergil pulls Dante into another embrace. Then he gives him another kiss, this time, more insistent, possessive. "For I would rather have no other, but you."

That's good enough for them.

"The flowers- I've already treasured them." He murmurs, one of his hands holding onto Vergil's jacket. "If you haven't decided to enter into the office, I've been using up the heavier books."

"Returning to the old fashioned method for preserving my gifts?" The other murmurs.

"Yup. They're really pretty." He grins, hearing what he silently swore was another low, annoyed growl. "Don't tell me-"

"Like the stars, you are drawn into nature's beauty." Vergil's arm slowly shifts to a possessive vice, but that's the way Dante likes it. "Shall I be envious of Mother Nature's seductive ways and pull you back into the Underworld?"

"And leave Nero back to his seething rage? Nah. Not worth it." And Dante cracks a laugh, recalling one other myth he once told Vergil as a child- "But speaking of how jealous you get when I look at this world, what am I, your version of Persephone?"

Vergil's sighs more like a series of covetous huffs. But he can't fight the curve Dante knows is his smile. A smaller, yet genuine one. "...and I, your Hades."

"God. You... Verge. I swear. I think I should get you out more, experience what I had and I hope you enjoy it all." Dante chuckles, leaning into Vergil's warmth, his love. "I love you, you fucking sap."

And Vergil's chuckle is hoarse, low, affectionate. "And I love you, my romantically inclined idiot. Shall we take this somewhere so no one can intrude?"

"Like the fields?" 

"Somewhere like that. But closer, somewhere like home." He tugs Dante closer, but he knew what his brother meant. "I've done the liberties of making sure the office is closed for the rest of the day."

Said mercenary grins. "So, what do you want to do?"

"For a start-" Vergil smirks, eyes narrowing to an intense gaze and Dante feels the shivers go down his spine. His lips slip into a rather sly, determined smirk, matching his brother's. "-claiming you would be a good place to start."

"Aw, and here I thought I had the time to get these lovely roses to their new home." He bursts laughing when he feels a spike in Vergil's annoyance. "What!? Wouldn't want anyone else to destroy your gift to me, now would you?"

There's a petulant sigh and Dante knows- briefly- he's won this petty request. "Fine. But if you also treasure the ones you gave me."

"Of course." Dante smiles, then out of humor, "Just one question. Do you really know what blue and lavender roses mean?"

Vergil blinks, then his chuckles changes into fond laughter. "Why, Dante. You didn't think I would know? I've already obtained what I thought was impossible."

"So did I, Verge. ...so did I." And he pulls him into another kiss, this time both searing as it was passionate.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *= Aside the obvious 12 roses meaning of "be mine", 24 roses means "you're always on my mind" and "I'm yours", and 9 roses mean "I want to be with you forever". It wasn't just about colors after all.
> 
>  
> 
> (somewhere as Nico's driving to Fortuna City)
> 
>  **Kyrie** : Nero? I forgot to ask Dante, but who has been giving him these flowers?  
>  **Nero** : I didn't even think about that until now. I don't know, maybe someone who likes him. Why?  
>  **Kyrie** : Your father asked how I knew about those chrysanthemums, so I told him.  
>  **Nero** : ...and?  
>  **Kyrie** : Well... Nero, is it possible that your father and... Dante...?  
>  **Nero** : I've already given up trying to figure them out when they came back from the Underworld. So I wasn't surprised when 'Father of the Year' asshole told me how much he's... in love with my uncle.  
>  **Kyrie** : Oh.  
>  **Nero** : Yeah, let that sink in.  
>  **Kyrie** : It's rather passionate. Romantic, even.  
>  **Nero** : What... never mind, I'm not going to ask how you're used to this. Anyway, I decided it was a good idea to grab whatever shit Morrison handed me last time and prepare myself for this.  
>  **Kyrie** : That day suddenly made better sense.  
>  **Nero** : So did attempting to fight my dad and understanding his logic.  
>  **Kyrie** : And did it?  
>  **Nero** : You mean my attempts of trying to make sense of it along with attempting to get drunk and forget it happened?  
>  **Kyrie** : That too. Do you believe it has to do with their demon blood and their fraught past?  
>  **Nero** : Ergh. I don't want to know, it's their business.  
>  **Kyrie** : I guess this also explained why he's been looking at Dante a certain way-  
>  **Nero** : Kyrie. I love you very much. BUT I DIDN'T WANT TO KNOW ABOUT THAT.  
>  **Nico** : Oh, so you knew in some demon customs, you're technically calling Dante 'Mom' now?  
>  **Kyrie** : Ah! So from now-  
>  **Nero** : NOT THAT, I REFUSE TO CALL DANTE 'MOM'!  
>  **Nico** : If you say so...

**Author's Note:**

> So. ...GoT and that ending.  
> ...well, can't wait to see what my boss has to say tomorrow, this will be fun.


End file.
